Emily Chung
Sun
VANCOUVER — Changes to plans for a sustainable community on Southeast False Creek may flood a popular bikeway with cars and discourage cycling, says the spokesman for a Vancouver sustainable transportation advocacy group.
Updated plans for the development put a community centre and supermarket very near Ontario Street, one of the most popular north-south bike routes in the city.
“We’re really concerned the added traffic and the confusion at the intersection at First and Ontario is really not going to provide an experience that will encourage more people to cycle,” said Richard Campbell, head of active transportation programs at Better Environmentally Sound Transportation.
Right now, Ontario Street ends at First Avenue, giving way to a marked, car-free bike bath that leads to the seawall. Campbell is asking planners to keep that section of the bikeway car-free when Ontario Street is extended north of First, through the proposed community. That way, he said, the location of the supermarket and community centre can’t negatively affect the bikeway.
Campbell said the bikeway is a popular connection to the seawall and downtown Vancouver, will connect to Burnaby and New Westminster via the Central Valley Greenway now under construction, and is already used by up to 2,000 cyclists daily.
Planners solicited public feedback on the new location of the community centre and other plan changes at an open house last week at the central branch of the Vancouver Public Library. The open house was part of the rezoning process for the part of the development containing the Olympic Village for the 2010 Winter Games.
A feedback form provided at the open house said the community centre was moved closer to Ontario Street to improve its waterfront and dock access.
City staff could not be reached for comment on Monday, but Vancouver city councillor Suzanne Anton, who attended the open house, said she believes planning staff are considering Campbell’s proposal.
“I definitely think it’s an idea worth considering,” said Anton, who has floated the idea of making the community’s school directly accessible only by foot and bicycle.
She said planners were concerned, however, about maintaining truck and car access to the supermarket.
Campbell said Manitoba Street, the next north-south street west of Ontario, should provide enough vehicle access to the supermarket and community centre. He added that keeping Ontario Street car-free will reduce road construction costs and allow for more park space in the new community.
Two more open houses for the rezoning of the Olympic Village area will be held on Aug. 19 and 23 and the rezoning application will go to city council for approval in September.
The new mixed-use community on Southeast False Creek is being redeveloped from publicly and privately owned former industrial land on Southeast False Creek. According to the project’s website, the top guiding principle for the development is “implementing sustainability.” It is intended to be home to 12,000 to 16,000 people.
© The Vancouver Sun 2006